'Clowns Without Borders' Bring Laughter To Refugees From Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq

"The small things people do are sometimes the most profound!"

A video by AJ+ highlights a special troupe of clowns that moves beyond the circus to travel the world, serving one very important purpose — to bring laughter to those that need it most.

The troupe called Clowns Without Borders is a non-profit organization that sends professional clowns and actors to give free shows in conflict zones and to refugees fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. According to their website, Clowns Without Borders only goes where they are invited but aim for at least one hundred projects throughout the world each year.

Their 2015 projects have been in Nepal, Colombia, Greece, Kenya, Turkey, Chiapas, East Oakland and San Antonio.

Since being founded in 1993, the organization has helped entertain thousands of people, and while their mission to bring smiles may seem small, sometimes providing just one moment of levity can be as essential to a person's well-being as any survival basic.

"We heard this awesome story of a man who was there with his small daughter," says troupe member Molly Levine. "[He] was watching his daughter watch the show, and he was so relieved because he said that it was the first time that she had smiled since they left Syria."

Clowns Without Borders' website states they "seek to raise our society's awareness of affected populations and to promote a spirit of solidarity." This spirit of solidarity is, of course, created through the universal language of laughter.

"The small things people do are sometimes the most profound!" comments Thomas Bermea on AJ+'s video on Facebook.

Though the work being done by these people is very important, they have a small budget, most of it coming from individual donors. You can support Clowns Without Borders here. You can also volunteer here to spread the laughter, and even take part in one of their workshops to learn to be a clown yourself!